Kikwit
Kikwit is the largest city of Kwilu Province, in the southwestern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Located at the furthest navigable point of the Kwilu River, the urban area of Kikwit is primarily on its left bank. The city has over half a million inhabitants. Kikwit is divided into four communes, with decentralised leadership: Kazamba, Lukemi, Lukolela, and Nzinda.
Originating as a small village, Kikwit was developed by Belgian colonists in the late 19th century and became a centre of ivory and rubber trade. After the establishment of the Belgian Congo, Kikwit was granted to the company, which established palm oil plantations in the 1910s and 1920s. Kikwit became an important administrative centre as well as the largest producer of palm oil in the Kwilu region. Beginning in 1959, Kikwit was a centre of political activities of the. The region around the city was impacted by the Kwilu rebellion and Simba rebellion of the 1960s, but Kikwit was not a conflict zone. Kikwit's economy and infrastructure declined by the 1990s. In 1995, the city saw an outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus. The first municipal elections were held in 2023.
Kikwit's population comprises largely the Pende and ethnic groups and speaks the Kikongo and Lingala languages. The city has thousands of migrants, including workers from rural areas. Most of the population is Catholic, and the city is the headquarters of the Catholic Diocese of Kikwit. Economic activities in Kikwit include agriculture and informal enterprises. The city has a high rate of poverty and of youth unemployment, which contributes to criminal activity such as gangs. The city has poor infrastructure such as electricity. Kikwit is served by a single highway, National Road 1, and by Kikwit Airport.
History
Kikwit was a small village prior to Belgian colonisation. It was a historical centre of the trade of wax derived from caterpillars. Belgian colonists further developed the town with the goal of exploiting resources. Kikwit became a regional centre of the ivory and rubber industries in the late 19th century, under the leadership of the. The town received services and infrastructure such as a paved highway and electricity.The Belgian Congo government was established in 1908 and began making deals with private companies. These included granting an extensive concession—including Kikwit and nearby Leverville—to the company, which received exclusive rights over palm oil farming. Palm oil plantations were established around the city in the 1910s and 1920s. As a result of the HCB's growth, Kikwit grew as an administrative centre. The town was racially segregated into the cité européenne and the cité indigène. The conducted steamboat trips between Kikwit and Kinshasa—downstream from Kikwit—approximately weekly by 1939. The trip took five days to Kinshasa and ten days in the opposite direction.
Kikwit was a small town, but it was important to the Kwilu region as a port and administrative centre, serving as the capital of Kwilu District until 1954. Kikwit was the region's leading producer of palm oil, producing 27,483 tons in 1956, and many workers came to the town from nearby Gungu and Idiofa.
The first political party to operate in Kikwit was the Congolese National Movement in March 1959, when a local organisation was established by Charles de Booth. The organisation was short-lived as Kikwitois people did not support de Booth, who was not indigenous and was associted with the Jesuit elite. De Booth led Kikwit's delegation to the Luluabourg Conference of May 1959, which decided to instead represent the . This solidified the importance of the party, which extended its presence in the Kwilu region, gaining the support of the administration and the opposition of Catholic leaders. Although the PSA was based in Léopoldville and had another branch in Kenge, Kwango, Kikwit was the centre of the party's operations.
In December 1960, soldiers raided Kikwit as revenge for the killing of a soldier. This resulted in civilian deaths that strained the city's hospital. The City of Kikwit became part of Kwilu Province upon its creation in 1962. It was the densest part of the province. Beginning in January 1963, Kikwit was the centre of labour strikes among plantation workers, supported by the PSA. Kikwit had a population of 44,969 in December 1963.
During the Kwilu rebellion, the rebel militia of Pierre Mulele took over the surrounding region. It expanded into Kikwit after establishing control in Gungu and Idiofa. The conflict led the city to declare a curfew on 4 September 1963. Mulele's militia launched attacks on Catholic missions, including the Sacre-Cœur mission on 7 March 1964. It did not attack the city centre, and Kikwit was otherwise not considered a battle site. The government maintained control of the city during the Simba rebellion, and it housed many refugees from conflict zones, such as, by mid-1965. Upon Mulele's death in October 1968, a celebration was attended by "the whole city of Kikwit", according to a journalist from Le Courrier d'Afrique.
Kikwit became part of Bandundu Province upon its creation in 1966 and served as its capital until 1971, when it was replaced by Bandundu city. Kikwit officially became a city on 15 March 1970. A Kikongo-language local newspaper, Kimpangi —which would later merge into Beto na Beto—was founded after a 1973 decree banned anti-government newspapers. The paved highway between Kikwit and Kinshasa was completed in 1979. This increased agricultural exports from the surrounding region. By that year, HCB—then owned by Unilever—had ten plants in Kikwit, which produced 70% of palm oil in the Kwilu region.
Kikwit's economy and infrastructure deteriorated in the late twentieth century. After Mobutu Sese Seko banned Belgian organisations in 1990, the city's education and healthcare systems became dysfunctional. By 1991, the highway was in poor condition, and the city had no electrical or water supply. Kikwit was further impacted by a shift in the Congolese economy toward de-urbanisation in the 1990s. During the First Congo War, the AFDL took control of Kikwit in April 1997, shortly before the and the end of the war.
File:6136 PHIL scientists PPE Ebola outbreak 1995.jpg|thumb|alt=Three people in hazmat suits around a table with test tubes|Scientists analysing the Ebola virus during the 1995 epidemic
The 1995 Kikwit Ebola outbreak was the second major outbreak of the Ebola virus. It originated in a patient who died in January 1995, and the national health officials became aware of the outbreak in April. The following month, the virus was idenfied as Ebola and international health workers arrived at the city's general hospital while all other hospitals were ordered to close. The epidemic, which ended in late 1995, caused 316 infections and 252 deaths; many were healthcare workers. The city had no local media at the time, causing uncertainty and misinformation among locals. This outbreak was one of the first instances of hospitals treating Ebola. The outbreak received wide attention from international news media, and it became one of the most studied epidemics.
Under a 1998 law, Kikwit's officials were appointed by the President of the DRC, and the mayor was subservient to the governor of Kwilu. A 2006 program of the New Partnership for Africa's Development restored 1,000 hectares of palm plantations, aiming for the industry to be controlled by local enterprises. In April 2014, a tribute concert held in Kikwit to honor King Kester Emeneya, who was born in the city, ended in a stampede, killing at least fourteen people in the stadium, following a power failure. The phenomenon of gangs known as spread to Kikwit from Kinshasa by 2015. In response, officials in Kikwit launched the anti-crime Operation Mbita Bango in May 2016, following an announcement by military officials. This month-long operation involved the arrest of many youths who refused to leave Kuluna gangs.
At a January 2019 protest led by supporters of opposition leader Martin Fayulu, protesting his loss in the 2018 presidential election, security forces killed at least twelve protestors. Although a 2008 law organised Kikwit into an elected, decentralised government, its officials continued to be appointed by the President until November 2022, and the first municipal elections were held in December 2023.
Geography
Kikwit is located in southwestern Democratic Republic of the Congo, at the coordinates, and has an area of 92 square kilometres. Kikwit is at the furthest navigable point of the Kwilu River, part of the Kwango River system. The city is in a valley where the river flows north-northwest. At Kikwit, the river is wide, with a water level that varies seasonally. Downstream from Kikwit to Bulungu, the river's bed is rocky, and it joins the Kwenge River 24 km downstream of the city, near Lusanga. Kikwit is 320 km upstream from the river's confluence at Bandundu and 690 km upstream from the national capital, Kinshasa. The city drains to the Lukemi and Luimi tributaries of the Kwilu River, located within the city.The elevation of Kikwit is about above sea level, with a minimum of and a maximum of. It is located on the Kwango Plateau and is mostly flat, though some areas have steep slopes. Geologically, the plateau's soil has a high clay content and consists primarily of sandstone and argillite, which cause the formation of regolith and ferralsols. Terraces of iron-heavy rocks were formed during semi-arid periods tens of thousands of years ago. The area is prone to erosion. The regolith and steep areas of the plateau contribute to the formation of gullies, the largest measuring 40 m deep and 60 m across. These often form parallel to roads, and countermeasures are often ineffective at preventing their formation. Vegetation on the plateau consists of savanna and steppes, with some forested areas. Vegetation in the valley includes forested savanna, rainforest, and riparian forest. Plant coverage began degrading in the 1970s due to increased population.
Kikwit's city centre is on the left bank of the Kwilu River, containing dense residential and commercial developments including the market. The right bank is rural and is connected to the left bank by only one bridge, called.